Event Description

ON January 15, 1919 at 12:30 in the afternoon near Keany Square 529 Commercial Street,

a molasses tank 50 ft tall and 90 ft in diameter containing 2,300,000 gallons of Molasses collapsed. Witnesses reported that as it collapsed they felt the ground shake and heard a roar, a long rumble similar to the passing of an elevated train

A wave of molasses 25 ft high at its peak barrelled down a narrow street at 35 mph. The molasses wave was of sufficient force to damage the girders of the adjacent El Subway train and tip a railroad car off the tracks.

Author Stephen Puleo describes how nearby buildings were swept off their foundations and crushed. Several blocks were flooded to a depth of 2 to 3 ft.

21 people died.

It took four days to find all the victims.

Structural defects in the tank combined with unseasonably warm temperatures contributed to the disaster.

Cleanup of the disaster in Boston took weeks and the 300 volunteers who helped with the cleanup tracked the stickyness everywhere in the city.

Our AgilePhilly events are those with the Liberty Bell Logo. And other locations and cross-postings of other User Group events in the Philadelphia, Bucks County and Jersey area. . . are denoted PB&J . . . So please tell us of your event to list here alongside ours.